Hecate's Gates
by DaughterOfPoseidon333
Summary: Peyton Gates, along with her best friends Hal and Aaron, are thrown into the world of Greek gods when a boy named Percy Jackson saves them from a deadly serpent. Aaron and Hal are quickly accepted at Camp Half-Blood when they are claimed. But when Peyton discovers who her father is, she finds it hard to fit in. Can a quest for lost weapons help her find the hero in herself?
1. Chapter 1

**First, this story is set at the beginning of September, so it's almost two months before Percy disappears.**

**I don't own Percy Jackson or Heroes of Olympus. That honor belongs to Rick Riordan.**

**Reviews are greatly appreciated!**

**Enjoy!**

_**I**_

_**Peyton**_

My day was going perfectly fine—normal, even—that is, until the giant, fire-breathing snake came and blew up the science lab.

Up until my last class of the day, biology, everything had been completely fine. Now, it was only my second week as a freshman at Goode High School in the Upper East Side of Manhattan in New York, but I had changed schools a lot, so I had already worked out a daily routine. Despite being ADHD and dyslexic, I enjoyed school. Even if I often got kicked out of them. This year, I was determined to make it all the way through the school-year without getting expelled.

I should've known my luck wouldn't hold.

My two best friends Hal Evans and Aaron Fax, who had known me since childhood, caught up with me right outside the door. We walked in together just as the bell rang. The class was a mix of freshman and sophomores. I found my seat in the back next to one of said sophomores. He had tousled black hair and brilliant green eyes. I couldn't remember his name.

"Peyton Gates?" the teacher called my name after Hal and Aaron.

"Here," I called loudly.

A few names later, the teacher called out another name. "Percy Jackson?"

The sophomore next to me called out, indicating his presence. Percy Jackson. I would have to remember that name.

The teacher's assistant started setting up several chemicals on a work table along the wall by the windows to my left. As the teacher—who reminded us all that her name was Ms. Carp—started passing out worksheets and droning on about our first lab of the year and all about safety and what not, I completely zoned out. I wasn't the only one. Hal and Aaron sat at the table in front of me, flicking a paper football back and forth. At one point, the football landed on Aaron's head, right in his tousled mop of brown hair.

Percy was the only one who didn't look bored.

In fact, he looked agitated. He kept glancing warily at each kid in turn, at Ms. Carp, and out the windows. He was gripping a plain ball-point in his hand, his knuckles white. I looked at his pen closer. On the side there was writing. Anaklusmos. It wasn't English, but I immediately knew what it meant.

"Riptide," I murmured.

Percy's head swiveled in my direction. He had turned white as a sheet. "What?" he whispered urgently.

"That's what your pen says. Riptide. Right?" I told him. I didn't understand why he looked so freaked.

"Uh, yeah." Percy muttered, his eyes narrowed slightly and he gave me a suspicious look.

I was about to ask him if he felt sick or anything, because he looked more frantic than ever, but then I heard the noise that made the hairs on the back of my neck stick straight up.

The noise came from outside the windows, a deep growl that quickly turned into a roar. Percy immediately shifted in his seat, and turned towards the windows, brandishing his pen like a weapon. Nobody else seemed to take notice of the commotion outside. I tapped Aaron's shoulder in front of me.

"Aaron, Hal, did you guys hear that?" I asked them in a whisper.

"Hear wha-?" Aaron cut off, the worksheet in his hand fluttering to the floor, as another roar ripped through the chatter of students working on the lab. This one, much louder than before. Hal seemed to have heard it too.

Then the windows exploded.

Thirty terrified students may not have noticed the earlier growls and roars, but they definitely noticed when the entire left side of the room burst in a mixture of brick and glass. Chemicals spilled and test tubes fell to the tile floor and shattered. Screams erupted from everyone, and students quickly took cover under the tables. Ms. Carp and her assistant had disappeared behind her desk.

I looked next to me for Percy, but he was gone.

I looked back towards the windows, or rather where the windows had _been._ From outside, _something _came slithering into the science lab. I froze as I recognized it as a huge, 30-foot serpent, with blazing orange eyes, and inky gray and green scales.

I didn't think anything could shock me any further…until I saw _Percy _with a bronze _sword_, standing in front of the beast. The other students didn't seem to notice Percy's weapon, or the beast. It roared. Smoke curled up from the corners of its mouth. Before I could issue a warning to Percy, the snake blew a white-hot column at fire straight at Percy. Percy rolled to the side. The fire blasted apart a table instead, charring it to a blackened heap, and terrifying the few students that had been hiding under it.

"Peyton, get down!" I heard Hal hiss off to my right. I was still frozen. I felt Aaron's hand wrap around my wrist, and he yanked me under the table with him and Hal.

"What _is _that thing?" Hal demanded.

Aaron and I didn't answer. We didn't have one. I watched, terrified, as Percy lunged at the beast as its head was turned to a petrified student. Percy stabbed his bronze sword straight into the serpent's left eye. It howled and roared in pain, swinging its massive head from side to side. It turned its gaze on Percy, who didn't flinch at all. In fact, Percy didn't seem scared one bit.

"Where did Percy get a sword?" I heard Aaron whisper.

I stared at him. "You can see the sword?"

"Yeah, I can see it. It's right there!" Aaron replied, dumbfounded, as if I'd just asked him the most obvious question.

"Hal, can you see it?" I asked timidly, tucking a strand of dark brown—almost black-hair behind my ear, the way I did when I was in an awkward situation. Seeing a classmate take on a huge snake with a sword was_ definitely_ an awkward situation.

"Heck yeah, I can see it. That is so cool." Hal whispered the last part, partially awe-struck. I rolled my eyes. Leave it to Hal to think that a serpent eating science equipment was _cool._

I looked back towards Percy just in time to see him stab the serpent's other eye. The serpent roared and went into flamethrower-mode. Tables went up in an inferno. I crept to the wall behind me and grabbed the fire extinguisher off the wall and blasted it towards any blazes, being careful of the serpent. I looked over at Hal and Aaron to see that they were hurrying students to the open door and ushering them out into the hallway.

Those were my boys. Completely immature and flicking paper footballs one minute to rescuing ADHD kid another minute. It made me think about when I first met the two of them.

At the time, I had been seven, almost eight. My mother had been working at one of the butcher shops down by the Meatpacking District near High Line Park. It was a Saturday, one of her busy days. Her latest boyfriend, Robert, was at home with me. My mom was constantly trying to find 'the one' ever since my dad left before I was born. Well, every time my mom thought she had finally found her soul mate, he turned out to be a first-class jerk. The problem with Robert was his temper. He would always yell and get furious at the littlest things.

The day I met Hal and Aaron, I guess what I did wasn't so little, but I had been seven. Seven year olds do stupid stuff all the time. Especially ADHD seven year olds. This time, I had accidentally flooded the bathroom. I had been filling up the bathtub. I had just been trying to give my toy pony a bath.

When Robert discovered what I had done, he yelled at me. Yelled at me louder and harsher than he ever had before. I cried and ran outside to the little yard behind the apartment building. A lot of kids played back there. There wasn't much. Just a large sandbox and a single swing. But it was enough. Today, though, there were only two boys out there.

Now Hal and Aaron weren't brothers, but they may as well have been. They were very close. I found out later that they lived right next to each other.

When I ran outside, crying, clutching my toy pony—rightfully named Mr. Pony—to my chest like it was my life-line, well they both noticed something was wrong. They had been eight at the time, Aaron only a month older, while Hal was six months older than me. They had comforted me, played with me till the sun started to set. My mom came home, saw how happy I was, and immediately became acquainted with Mrs. Evans and Mr. Fax.

As it turned out, my day hadn't been completely spoiled. My mom dumped Robert and I met my two best friends.

I flashed back to the present when I felt a hand grab my arm. Aaron was giving me a concerned look, but I just shook my head at him and told him I was fine.

Aaron had changed from his eight year old self. His hair was still just as tousled as it had ben, but he had grown up. His brown eyes were serious, but intelligent. He was at least six feet, a good five inches taller than me. All that height was evened out by corded muscles covering his entire body. And though he didn't joke as often as Hal, he was easy going and smiled often.

Hal on the other hand, hadn't changed much. He still played pranks a lot and was constantly goofing off. He had blonde hair, that went just below his ears and blue eyes that were constantly moving from one spot to another. He wasn't nearly as tall as Aaron, but still had a few inches on my 5'7 height.

I saw Hal, getting the rest of the kids out of the room. I took a look around. There were still some tables on fire. There was a thin layer of smoke in the air. And, oh yeah, almost the entire left wall was missing. I saw Percy, standing in a puddle of chemicals, kicking around what looked like a pile of sawdust. Percy looked up at me with his green eyes. He lifted his sword, touched a pen cap to the tip, and I watched in disbelief as the sword shrunk into the same ball point pen I had seen him fiddling with earlier.

"Come on," Percy said to Hal, Aaron, and I.

We followed him out of the room and into the hallway with a bunch of shocked ninth and tenth graders. I could hear the wail of a fire truck in the distance.

Several students were asking what happened. Ms. Carp looked just as clueless as I felt.

"I think the chemical table got bumped. Must've caused some sort of reaction resulting in the fire. The chemicals _were _near an electrical outlet." I said, evening my voice so it made it seemed like I knew what I was talking about.

To my surprise, the whole class, even the teachers, started nodding their heads. Percy gave me a look of respect, then went over to talk to Ms. Carp. A minute later, he came over to us.

"Come on, you three." Percy said, starting down towards the English department.

"Wait, we're not just going to ditch the rest of school." Aaron protested. "Especially not to follow someone we barely know."

Percy smirked. "Don't worry, I've got it covered."

"Come on guys, its Friday. I'm cool with ditching. Besides, it was last period. It's not like we've got anything better to do." Hal said persuasively, giving his best dimpled grin.

I exchanged a look with Aaron, smiling at him. he stood firm for a moment, before groaning and giving in.

"Okay, Percy, you're in charge. Where are we going?" I asked.

Percy grinned hugely. "Well, first, I'm going to get us excused for the rest of the afternoon," Percy paused, giving us all a knowing look. "then we're going to go to my favorite place in the world."

**Okay, I want honest opinions, what did you think? Well, I would really appreciate if you would leave your thought, good or bad, in a review. I have to know if I should continue or not. Reviews are everything to me!**

**Any guesses on Aaron and Hal's parents? Leave those in a review too. If I get any right answers….well how do you feel about a little contest? **

**If you answer right, in a review or PM, by next Thursday, I will put your name in as one of the siblings for Hal or Aaron, depending on whose parentage you got right. There can be multiple winners. If you **_**do **_**win, I'll PM you, and you can give me any name that you wish to give me, your own name if you want. I'll provide more details when I have some winners.**

**Here's a hint: Hal is blonde. His Dad is the parent. Aaron's parent is the mom. (Psst, minor gods work too)**

**Sound good? Confused? Just PM if you have any questions.**

**PLKEASE REVIEW!**

**-DaughterOfPoseidon333**


	2. Chapter 2

**No guesses on Aaron or Hal's parents? Well, okay. **

**Anyway, I know I said in the beginning of chapter one that this was going to be a sister fic…well I changed my mind. Peyton will still be a child of the Big Three though. I just had a thought, and I decided to change her parentage. **

**I hope you still like my story.**

**Remember to review, please.**

**I don't own PJ of HoO. **

**Enjoy!**

**P.S. another change, sorry, I tried doing first person in the last chapter. Well I realized I like third person better, so I think I'm going to do the rest of the story from third person POV. Sorry if there's any confusion. **

_**II**_

_**Peyton**_

Peyton followed Percy down the familiar hallways of Goode High School. The only thing she knew was that Percy was heading toward the English department. She could hear Aaron and Hal's footsteps echoing on the linoleum floor behind her. Aaron and Hal both seemed suspicious of Percy, even though he had just saved everybody's lives' from a fire-breathing snake. For some reason, Peyton trusted him. she barely knew Percy, but he was also the only one who seemed to have any idea about what was going on here.

"Where're we goin'?" Aaron asked evenly.

Peyton looked back at Aaron. He seemed calm enough, though there was a slight wariness glittering in his brown eyes.

"You guys know Pau- uh, Mr. Blofis?" Percy said, not even looking back at the three of them.

"The English teacher? Why?" Peyton replied.

"He can get us excused for the rest of the afternoon."

"How do you know that?" Hal demanded.

"Well, he's my step-dad. So I know." Percy said smoothly, shooting a smile at the three of them.

"Won't Mr. Blofis have class?" Aaron asked.

"No. This is his prep hour." Percy answered.

Peyton recognized the door to Mr. Blofis' classroom. She watched as Percy just watched straight in. she looked at Hal and Aaron. They shared a silent exchange. Shrugging her shoulders, and seeing no other option, Peyton followed Percy.

Mr. Blofis looked up as the four of them approached. He smiled warmly at Percy. Peyton could tell that, though Percy was Mr. Blofis' step-son, he clearly loved Percy like he was his own. Peyton wished she had a step-father that nice. She wished she had a father at all.

"Percy, what are you doing out of class?" Mr. Blofis asked gently, but with that teacher sternness.

"There was a…_situation_ in the biology lab." Percy said, clearly choosing his words carefully.

Mr. Blofis looked thoughtful for a moment. "My kind of situation or your kind of situation?"

"My kind." Percy replied quickly. "I took care of it…but the science lab is now missing a wall. Everyone thinks there was an accident with the chemicals. Instead of going to Camp tomorrow, I think I'm going to head down there tonight. If that's okay with you and Mom?"

"Missing a wall," Mr. Blofis muttered, but looked up at Percy with an understanding look in his eyes. "Um, yeah. Sure. I'll tell your mom that you're at Camp. I'll get you excused from class to."

"Thanks, Paul. Er, um, I mean Mr. Blofis." Percy smiled sheepishly.

Mr. Blofis looked at Peyton, then at Aaron and Hal. He studied us for a moment, smiled, then wrote out four passes. Mr. Blofis got out of his chair, then handed us the passes. Aaron and Hal looked at Percy with newfound respect, like they couldn't believe Percy just _asked _if he could ditch the rest of the day. The four of them started walking towards the door, but Mr. Blofis grabbed Percy's arm.

"You guys wait, I'll be right out." Percy said.

Peyton headed out behind Aaron and Hal she was almost out the door when she heard Mr. Blofis say: "Are the three of them demigods too?"

"Yeah, I think so." Percy replied.

Peyton hurried out the door, not wanting to hear the rest. _Demigods. _Peyton had always been interested in mythology, so she knew that a demigod was someone who was half human, half god…but she couldn't possibly…Mr. Blofis didn't _really _think she was a _demigod. _

Peyton shook her head, deciding she must've heard wrong. A demigod? That was impossible. _Impossible, _she told herself. So why didn't she believe it?

Percy came out a few moments later. "Alright, we're going to hand our passes into the office, then we're going to get going."

"Where, exactly, are we going, again?" Hal asked.

Percy paused. "A camp. A camp for people like us."

"People like us? What does that mean?" Aaron asked, one eyebrow raised in question.

"You guys all saw that drakon in there, right? You all saw my sword? And I'm guessing you're all either dyslexic or ADHD or both, right? Well the camp we're going to, everyone there is like that. It's the only safe place for people like us." Percy said. He was confident in every word he spoke, like he'd said the words before. Or like he'd heard them before.

His green eyes were intense. For some unknown reason, Peyton completely believed him. _Demigod. _The word rang around in her head again. Maybe she hadn't heard wrong. Thinking on it now, the name of Percy's sword, Anaklusmos, that was Greek. Drakons were Greek. Which meant maybe, just maybe, demigods were real too.

"I'm in." Peyton said. Percy gave a half smile. Hal looked at her like she was crazy. Aaron's eyes were unreadable.

"I'm in too." Aaron said. He shot her a smile and Peyton's heart melted.

Then she and Aaron turned on Hal. Hal looked back and forth between them. His brow furrowed together the way it did when he was making a tough decision. He huffed out a huge breath.

"Fine. Guess I'm in too. Traitor." He muttered to Aaron, who just laughed.

Minutes later, they had dropped off their passes, grabbed their jackets, and walked outside. It was beautiful outside, the sun shining bright, not a single cloud in the sky. Two fire trucks sat outside the school, putting out the last of the flames from the biology lab.

"So…what now?" Peyton asked Percy. They had walked about a block away from the school, into a wide alley between the bleachers by the baseball fields and the sports equipment building. Percy looked around for a moment, like he was contemplating something.

"Percy?" Peyton prompted.

Percy turned to look at them. "Okay. I have a way to get to camp that's quicker than taking a cab. Plus, we wouldn't have to pay."

"What are we gonna do? Ride unicorns?" Hal muttered.

"Something like that." Percy grinned mischievously. Then he put his fingers to his lipsand whistled, very loud and very clear.

For a moment nothing happened. Then, four dark shapes appeared in the sky. Peyton squinted. Then she recognized the outline of a long snout, four legs, and wings.

"No way," she breathed. "that's not possible. This can't be real."

"Oh it's real all right. Believe me." Percy said with a laugh.

Out of the sky, straight out of mythology books, four pegasi swooped down and landed lightly on the asphalt. Three of them were white, while one was black as midnight. Aaron's mouth was slightly open, eyes wide, as he stared at the magnificent, beautiful winged horses in front of him. Thankfully, Hal had gone speechless.

Percy went up to the black Pegasus and stroked it's snout. "Hiya Blackjack. Thanks for coming on such short notice."

"You do realize you're talking to a horse, right?" Hal said.

Percy laughed. "Yeah, I know. It's cool, he can understand me. Well? We going or not?"

Percy mounted the black steed, Blackjack. Peyton picked the white one closest to her and hopped on. Aaron and Hal followed their example, Hal muttering the whole time about crazy horse whisperers.

"Winged horses. Swords. Dragons-" Hal started.

"Drakons. With a K." Percy interrupted.

"Yeah. Drakons. Man, what kind of camp do you go to?"

"A special one." Percyreplied, pride in his voice. Then he took off. Aaron and Hal took off on their pegasi. Peyton swallowed the nervous lump in her throat.

"Okay, nice horse. Good horse. How about we-" Peyton's words turned to a scream as her horse launched itself into the air, gliding smoothly on its large wings.

Her scream turned to a scream of joy. She had loved horses since she was a little girl, so this was like a dream come true. Peyton's pegasus sped up to catch up with the others. Percy had a huge grin on his face and Aaron and Hal were joking around like usual.

Soon enough, Percy shouted above the roar of the wind: "We're here! right below us! Welcome to Camp Half-Blood!"

**I know this chapter was a little shorter than the last one, but I hoped you liked it nonetheless. Next chapter, we'll get some claiming going on and the introduction to Camp and the other campers and what not. PLEASE REVIEW! **

**Thanks for reading!**

**-DaughterOfPoseidon333**


	3. Chapter 3

**Okay, sorry for the late update, I've been super busy with school and work and homework, and I haven't had a whole lot of time to write. So I can't say for sure the next time I'll update either. But for now, let's just enjoy this chapter.**

**And thank you to everyone who reviewed, followed, and favorited this story!**

**IMPOTANT, READ BELOW!**

**Okay, so I've probably make things a little confusing. I was a little disorganized when I started this story. So forgive the first person POV in the first chapter, I thought I'd give it a try, but I like third person POV **_**much better, **_**so the rest of the story is going to be in 3****rd**** person.**

**Second, now this is super important, I **_**was **_**going to make this a sister fic, with Peyton being Percy's sister, but NOT ANYMORE. PEYTON IS NOT A DAUGHTER OF POSEIDON; THIS IS NOT A SISTER FIC. And I'm trying not to make it seem like I'm yelling at you guys, cause I'm not =) So again, Peyton **_**is **_**a daughter of one of the Big Three, just not Poseidon. Sorry if that disappoints anyone, but I had a super awesome burst of inspiration and had another idea instead.**

**AND, one last thing, sorry, but I'm changing the title. Yup. Sorry. More confusion. So, TITLE CHANGE EVERYONE! I'm changing the title to: Hecate's Gates. So, instead of Poseidon's Gates, it'll be **_**Hecate's Gates. **_**Not a super title change, but a little one.**

**Sorry for all my ranting, I just think I confused people, which I sorely apologize for. I didn't mean to. If you guys have any questions, any at all, just PM me. I'm sorry for all of this, I sometimes have issues working through all the different stories in my head, and I change things a lot.**

**Hope you enjoy! I don't own anything.**

**P.S. Anyone read The Mark of Athena yet? I HAVE! It was AMAZING! Now we just have to wait a year for the next one!**

_III_

_Peyton_

Peyton didn't think she could be any more surprised after a morning of teenage dudes with pen-swords, Drakons, and flying horses, but she was wrong. They group of pegasi touched down at the crest of a hill, depositing the teenagers, then took off into the skies again. Percy started walking up the hill, and waited for the rest of them, standing next to the biggest pine tree Peyton had ever seen.

"Are you sure about this?" Hal asked one last time.

"He saved our lives', guys. If you guys wanna leave, fine, but I'm going." Peyton replied. She knew they would follow. They always did. And sure enough, she was almost next to Percy when she heard Hal and Aaron grumbling behind her. Peyton couldn't explain exactly why she trusted Percy. She just felt that maybe he could answer some of the questions she'd been carrying with her for her whole life. Maybe she could figure out why she was so different.

When Peyton reached the crest of the huge hill, her jaw dropped as she took in the scene before her. Percy had taken the three of them to a summer camp, but it wasn't like any camp Peyton had _ever _seen. It looked like somebody had taken a valley, added some Greek buildings, a big baby blue house, and a huge plot of forest and stirred well. It was really hard to take in everything at once; there was so much to look at. Next to the big blue house was a sand volleyball pit, complete with kids playing. Off to right, there was a tall climbing wall, that shook and spewed lava, which Peyton thought was dangerous, but there were several kids climbing it anyway, like they were goats…wait, they _were _goats. Or at least they had the legs of goats. Peyton tried to recall the name of them…satyrs maybe. Yeah, definitely satyrs.

Looking deeper into the valley, Peyton saw a group of twenty cabins, in a circular formation around a central fire. There was an open-air pavilion with Greek-style columns around it, an amphitheater, a forge and armory, stables for the winged horses, an arena where several kids were practicing swordplay, strawberry fields, and of course the woods, and beach that led into Long Island Sound.

Peyton was completely and absolutely speechless.

"Is that a dragon?" Hal said suddenly, awe and maybe a little fear in his voice.

Peyton turned her head towards the base of the pine tree where Hal was looking. There, wrapped around the bottom, was a real-life, coppery dragon. Peyton also noticed something glittering gold in one of the lowest branches.

"Is that…?" Peyton's question trailed off.

"That's Peleus. He guards the tree because of the Golden Fleece." Percy said, answering both of their questions.

"The real Golden Fleece?" Aaron asked.

"Yup. As real as you or me. Come on, I have a few people I need to introduce you to." Percy said, and he started heading down the hill towards the blue house.

"This is the Big House," Percy said, stepping up onto the big white wrap-around porch. "Chiron?"

Percy waited, and pretty soon, Peyton heard what sounded like the clop of hooves. Coming around the porch was a man…except he wasn't just a man. His upper half was that of a middle-aged guy with a scruffy brown beard, with a bow and quiver of arrows slung over his back. His bottom half…well, it was a horse. He had the body of a white stallion instead of legs.

"Uh…you're friends with a centaur?" Aaron said, staring at the man, centaur, whatever.

"Percy, I thought you weren't coming till tomorrow?" the centaur said kindly, not angry, just wondering what Percy was doing here a day early with three other teenagers.

"Yeah, I know. It's just, at school, a drakon attacked. I'm pretty sure these were the other demigods Greg was talking about. I brought them to camp, sorry about not sending an Iris-message." Percy said.

Peyton only understood about half of Percy's response.

"Who's Greg?" Hal asked.

"He's a satyr. He stays at Goode to sniff out any demigods that might be there." Percy replied.

Hal didn't respond, though he did still look kinda shocked at where they were. Peyton was finding it hard to believe himself.

"It's alright, Percy. Do you know if they've been claimed yet?" the centaur, Chiron asked.

"I don't think so."

"We'll wait for dinner then, tonight," Chiron turned to look at the three of them. "What are your names?"

Hal looked too stunned to speak like he couldn't believe the horse-man could actually speak English. Aaron didn't make any move to speak either. Peyton sighed. As always, it was up to her.

"I'm Peyton Gates. This is Aaron Fax and Hal Evans." She said, looking up at Chiron, and nervously tucking a strand of dark hair behind her ear.

"I'm Chiron. I'm the activities director here at Camp Half-Blood. Percy, would you show them around? I have an archery class to get to." Chiron asked.

Percy nodded. "Sure. Chiron, is Annabeth here?" Percy asked.

Peyton looked at Percy. As he said the name 'Annabeth', she noticed that Percy couldn't help but smile, his eyes lighting up. Chiron seemed to notice this too, and he returned the smile, his eyes crinkling in the corners.

"She should just be getting done with her monster fighting class with the Athena and Nemesis cabins. They should still be in the arena." The horse man replied.

Percy's grin only got bigger. "Thanks. Come on, guys."

Peyton started to follow Percy as he headed towards a sandy floored arena that she assumed was the same one Chiron had been talking about.

"Hey, Percy?" Aaron asked as he walked next to Peyton, so close that she could smell his cologne and see the flecks of gold in his brown eyes. She swallowed deeply, trying to push down any feelings for Aaron that bubbled to the surface. It hadn't been long since she started feeling that way, but she had no desire to ruin their friendship if something went wrong between them.

"Yeah?" Percy asked, turning to Aaron.

"Are we going to be able to call our parents? " Aaron asked.

"Chiron will handle it."

"How?"

Percy smiled knowingly. "He has his ways. But don't worry; your parents will know you're safe. Speaking of, which parent do you guys live with?"

"What do you mean?" Hal asked.

"Well, you're clearly demigods. Which means-"

"We're the children of a mortal and a god. And since it looks like we landed in ancient Greece, I'm gonna assume we're talking about the Greek gods. So we're half human, half Greek god." Peyton interjected.

The three boys stopped in their tracks, looking at her like she just fell out of the sky and demanded to be taken to their leader. "What?" she protested.

"How'd you know that?" Percy asked.

"I heard you talk about it with Mr. Blofis. I've read about some Greek myths before, so I remembered what a demigod was. But you think _we're _demigods?" she replied, still finding it hard to believe that she could be considered godly. An ADHD, dyslexic, C average student who was related to the all-powerful gods of Greek mythology? Yeah, maybe just a tad hard to believe.

"I _know _you're demigods. You're all ADHD and Dyslexic right? You only live with one parent because you've only ever known that one parent. And if you weren't demigods you wouldn't be able to see past the Mist." Percy replied, like he'd been through the same conversation himself.

"The Mist?" Aaron asked.

"It's a magical veil that hides any evidence of the Greek gods or monsters from mortals." Percy answered.

"Right. Of course it is." Hal muttered.

Percy ignored him. Peyton had a feeling that Percy had dealt with skeptical demigods before. She thought maybe he'd been one of those skeptics himself.

"Well, Hal and I live with our mom's. Aaron lives with his dad." Peyton answered Percy's earlier question.

"Good. Hopefully you guys should be claimed by your godly parent either at dinner or the campfire tonight. That's usually when it happens now." Percy said.

Peyton had been so absorbed listening to Percy and looking around at all the different Grecian style buildings that she hadn't realized the boys had stopped in front of her. They were looking at the arena Peyton had seen earlier. Percy pushed the on the gates that flanked the entrance, and they swung open with barely a sound. Inside was a group of at least a dozen or so kids, ranging in ages, all wearing orange t-shirts that said _Camp Half-Blood_. Most of them had the same golden blonde hair and stormy gray eyes. The others, about four kids, had darker hair and brown eyes. Peyton noticed some of the kids were covered in a yellow powder, while others took various weapons—swords, spears, daggers, and dozens of others-and were carrying them out to a shed.

As Percy walked through the group of kids, most of them greeted him with huge smiles and high-fives. Apparently, unlike at Goode, Percy was a pretty popular guy here. Peyton had noticed him before at school, and there were plenty of bullies that decided to pick a fight. Whenever Peyton was nearby, she would watch as Percy would try to calmly get rid of them. Eventually they would leave him alone after he stared them down long enough. She was pretty sure that if he wanted to, Percy could easily overtake even the biggest bullies at school.

Peyton stood awkwardly nearby with Aaron and Hal. Hal had already started chatting it up with a guy that was carrying a bow and a quiver full of arrows. Aaron was calmly looking around, just absorbing his surroundings. Peyton, having known him practically her whole life, would be one of the only ones to notice the tense set of his shoulders, and the wariness in his brown eyes. She wondered how he felt about this whole 'demigod' thing. Peyton thought about Aaron's dad, Mr. Fax.

Mr. Fax was one of the nicest, most innocent people Peyton had ever met. He was always making a fool of himself just to make others laugh. He was almost like a little kid sometimes, and quite oblivious to the horrors of the world outside of their apartment and his calm job at the library. Peyton loved him, almost like he was her own dad. She wondered what goddess would have been attracted to Mr. Fax's playful, lovable demeanor. She was pretty sure there wasn't a goddess for being goofy.

"Annabeth," Percy said, jolting Peyton out of her thoughts.

Peyton watched as Percy approached a blonde girl from behind. The girl, Annabeth, turned. She had the same stormy gray eyes as the other blondes around her—Peyton assumed they were her siblings—and her blonde hair was pulled up onto a ponytail. Annabeth sheathed the dagger she had in her hand when she saw who had been addressing her. Annabeth's face lit up, and she smiled hugely. Percy leaned forward and kissed Annabeth.

"Get a room guys!" one of the other kids yelled, which was ignored by Percy and Annabeth, seeing as how they had entered their own little world. Peyton felt slightly jealous, wishing she had someone that cared that much about her.

"I thought you weren't coming till tomorrow?" Annabeth exclaimed, surprised, as she wrapped her arms around Percy.

"Me too, but there was a drakon attack at school. I had to bring those three demigods I was telling you about here." Percy replied.

Percy turned back to the three of them, and introduced them all to Annabeth. She was polite, but Peyton noticed that she was looking all of them over, her eyes calculating. Peyton wondered if she was trying to figure out who their parents might be, just based on how they looked.

"Could you take Peyton and show her around? I'll take the guys." Percy asked.

"Sure. See you at dinner, then." Annabeth replied. She gave Percy a peck on the cheek, then led Peyton out of the arena.

Annabeth started heading towards the group of cabins, a big smile on her face the whole time. Peyton didn't know much about dating, or what it felt like to be in love, but she could tell that Annabeth was completely head over heels for Percy.

"How long have you guys been dating?" Peyton asked once they were out of earshot.

"Not long. We started dating in August." Annabeth said, and Peyton could tell that the past month had been the best of Annabeth's life. "Are you dating anyone?"

Peyton paused before answering. She felt like she could trust Annabeth, but she didn't quite feel like spilling all of her deepest feelings quite yet. "No."

Annabeth looked over at her, maybe a little skeptical, but she didn't say anything about instead, Annabeth started asking her about her mom and school, keeping Peyton engaged as they toured the camp. Peyton loved it. She didn't know if she felt like she quite fit in yet, but she felt like this could be a home for her. A place where she wasn't the only outsider who had never met her dad.

"Who's your godly parent?" Peyton asked Annabeth.

"Athena, Goddess of Wisdom." Annabeth said, standing a little straighter at the mention of the goddess.

"What about Percy?"

"He's a son of Poseidon."

"So…it really _is _true? I'm a demigod? Aaron and Hal too?" Peyton asked, though she already knew the answer.

"Yup. I know it's a little strange, but the Greek gods are here, they're alive, and they're still having demigod children." Annabeth replied gently, like she was trying not to force the information on Peyton to suddenly. Peyton wondered how many times Annabeth had had to deliver the 'yeah, your parent's actually a Greek god' speech.

"Do you have any idea who our parents might be?" Peyton questioned.

"Hard to say. For you and Aaron, it could be almost anyone. The only way we'll know for sure is when you get claimed by your parent."

"And then what? Do we just stay here all the time? what about school?"

Annabeth gave an amused smile, like she'd heard all the same questions before. "Some campers stay here year round, but a lot of them still go to school, and come when they can. We'll see how this weekend goes, and then Chiron will tell you if he thinks you should stay here year round or not."

Annabeth looked like she might've said more, but then a horn blew in the distance.

"Come on, time for dinner." Annabeth said, walking to the open air pavilion that was lined with picnic tables, one for each cabin, as Annabeth had told her.

"Dinner…?" Peyton muttered to herself, then she realized that the sun was dipping towards the horizon, casting an orange light over the valley and buildings.

Annabeth grinned, though whether it was for Peyton or the prospect of seeing Percy, Peyton wasn't sure. "Alright, let's find out who your godly parent is!"

**So, what did you think? Please leave me a review to tel me what you think,because they make my world go round!**

**Again, sorry about any confusion about anything. If you have any questions, just let me know.**

**Thanks for reading!**

**I'll try to post soon!**

**-DaughterOfPoseidon333**


	4. Chapter 4

**The best thing about having a long weekend with no school and no work? I get to write! I hope that makes you guys happy too.**

**We're gonna find out who Peyton's, Aaron's, and Hal's godly parents are this chapter!**

**Before I start, I don't own Percy Jackson or Heroes of Olympus.**

**Enjoy!**

_IV_

_Peyton_

As it turned out, there was a claiming at dinner. It just wasn't Peyton's claiming.

Peyton and Annabeth met Percy and Aaron at the dinner pavilion, where all the other campers were gathering and taking their seats at their respectful tables. Annabeth and Percy directed Peyton and Aaron to the head table, where Chiron stood. The tablecloth was embroidered with silvery lightning bolts around the edges, and a matching number one in the center. From her tour, Peyton remembered that Zeus' cabin had been number one. Apparently demigod children of the sky god weren't that common, considering the table was empty.

"Where's Hal?' Peyton asked Aaron as they sat down at the picnic table.

"He was claimed while we were taking our tour." Aaron answered quietly, without looking at her. Peyton realized that Aaron, the guy who never got mad at anyone or anything, might actually be upset that Hal had gotten claimed.

"Oh. So, who's his dad then?" Peyton asked.

"Apollo. That's what Percy said, anyway. We were walking by Cabin 7, the gold one, and all the sudden a glowing bow and arrow inside of a sun popped up over his head. It kinda looked like he was on fire for a moment. He freaked out a little bit." Aaron said, the tiniest of smiles appearing on his lips.

Peyton glanced over at table 7. Hal was there with a bunch of other blonde-haired-blue-eyed kids that looked like him. They were a variety of ages, some not much older than twelve. Peyton noticed that all of their eyes darted around like a hawk's, training on random spots off in the distance. Hal was laughing and chattering away, already a favorite among his half brothers and sisters. The only sign that showed he hadn't completely forgotten about her and Aaron was when he saw them at table one and waved briefly, a crazy grin on his face.

Peyton wanted to be mad at him, but she couldn't. Hal had spent his whole life with his single mother. No siblings. No father. And most of the time, his mom was away at her three jobs, trying to keep the two of them fed, so Hal was often left to say goodnight to himself. Peyton was glad that he was already getting along so well with his siblings, his family. _But you're his family. You were his family first, _she thought briefly, before shoving the jealous thoughts back into the recesses of her mind.

It was easier to forget about being jealous when the food came. The nymphs and driads Annabeth had told her about came forth, bearing platters of food, heaped up into enormous piles. It was the most delicious looking food Peyton had ever seen. She took one of everything, but it still didn't seem like enough. She was about to dig in, when she noticed everyone else getting up and heading over to the giant brazier of fire in the center of the pavilion. Percy came over from his table—where Peyton noticed he sat alone—and gestured for Peyton and Aaron to follow him.

When over by the fire, Percy took a clump of grapes, the juiciest and ripest ones off his plate, and threw it into the fire. "It's for the gods," he explained. "To Poseidon."

Percy stepped back and let Aaron and Peyton step forward. Peyton went first. She took the best piece of meat from her plate and dropped it in the fire. Peyton couldn't think of anything to say. _Just tell me who my father is. Please, _she thought instead. Aaron went next, throwing in an apple. He didn't say anything out loud, but the look on his face told Peyton that he had probably been sending a silent prayer to the gods, like her.

Aaron turned to head back towards table one, when there was a collective gasp from everyone. Peyton turned to look at Aaron. And there, floating above his head was the emblem of two crossed torches. Aaron, seeing everyone staring at him, looked up and his jaw dropped in surprise. The sign faded, and three campers rushed forward and led them towards their table, table 20. There was a clamor of excited voices and 'congratulations'. Aaron could barely process everything, and still had the same stunned look on his face as his siblings sat him down at their table. Peyton was left, standing alone by the brazier. Annabeth came over and gave Peyton a sympathetic look.

"Cabin 20. Hecate. Goddess of magic." Annabeth stated. "There's only, well, four of them now, I suppose, but don't worry. Aaron is in good hands."

Peyton nodded absently, then went and sat at table one by herself. Suddenly, she didn't have much of an appetite. Hal had been claimed. Aaron had been claimed. Was it bad that she hadn't been claimed yet? Maybe it was some kind of sign. Maybe it was a sign that she didn't belong here. Peyton had the strangest feeling, that even when she was claimed, she still wouldn't fit in. How could she? These were all kids who knew how to use a sword, and kill monsters, and embraced their godliness. Peyton didn't know if she could ever feel a part of that.

She cheered up a little after dinner. Everyone gathered in the amphitheater, and the Apollo cabin led a sing along, which Hal looked absolutely terrified about. Peyton had heard Hal's attempt at singing, and it hadn't been pretty, so it was funny when one of his older siblings asked him to lead the next song. There were s'mores and everyone was having a great time, even though the songs were goofy and half the time nobody could sing because they were laughing so much.

Peyton sat by Aaron and his other three cabin mates. There were two boys, twins, named Ben and August Taylor; and a girl, Charlotte James. Peyton admitted to herself that Aaron's siblings were nice, and maybe Annabeth had been right about Aaron being in good hands.

Peyton saw Percy sitting by Annabeth and her siblings. They were holding hands, sitting shoulder to shoulder, laughing. Peyton felt a twinge in her heart as she looked over at Aaron. She wished she had the guts to tell him how she felt. That way, she wouldn't have to hold all these feelings inside her. She was convinced that if she didn't tell him soon, she'd just explode instead. Or maybe it was all the s'mores she'd explode from instead. She wasn't quite sure.

In between one of the songs, Chiron clopped his hoof on the ground, catching everyone's attention. "I just want to introduce everyone to our new campers, Hal Evans, Son of Apollo; Aaron Fax, Son of Hecate; and Peyton Gates-"

Chiron fell into a stunned silence, his eyes trained on Peyton. Suddenly, his face aged about a hundred years. The other campers' smiles faltered as they too looked at Peyton. There were a few whispers in between campers, but mostly there was a widespread silence. The enchanted fire, that moments ago had been bright gold, was now a faded purple.

"What-?" Peyton broke off as Aaron tapped her shoulder and pointed above her head.

Above her head, just like at dinner with Aaron, was a floating symbol. Except instead of twin torches, it was a skull wearing a dark helmet, all bathed in green flames. As the symbol disappeared, the other campers started bowing. Peyton looked back over at Chiron, who had also bowed. He looked weary as he spoke. "Hail, Peyton Gates. Daughter of Hades, Lord of the Dead."

**Uh-oh. What have I done now? Sorry it was a little shorter than usual, but now that they've all been introduced to Camp Half-Blood and claimed, now we'll start getting into the good stuff, so the chapters will be longer.**

**Hope you liked it! Please review! Reviews are very motivating. Maybe I'll even update again this weekend.**

**Anyway, as always, thanks for reading! Love all of you!**

**-DaughterOfPoseidon333**


	5. Chapter 5

**Alright, just gonna start by saying SORRY for the late update! The past couple months have been extremely hectic and I haven't had a whole lot of free time to write!**

**Again really sorry, but I'm going to try updating more often. I'm not going to make any promises because my schedule's always changing, but we'll see how things are!**

**I just want to thank everyone for their support on this story!**

**I don't own PJO or HoO. That honor belongs to Rick Riordan.**

**Enjoy!**

_V_

_Aaron_

Just minutes after Peyton's claiming, Aaron was surrounded by campers bustling out of the amphitheater. Most campers headed off in large groups, heading back to their respectful cabins, but Aaron could see a few smaller groups, heads close, probably whispering, making up some gossip about the daughter of Hades. Aaron told his cabin-mates, despite their pleading, that he would catch up with them later. Right now, he had to find Peyton and make sure she was alright. Aaron pushed through the crowds of campers until his Nike-ed feet hit the floor of the amphitheater. Aaron scanned the area, until he saw Chiron in deep conversation with a still-stunned Peyton. Aaron stopped walking, not wanting to interrupt the conversation. Chiron seemed like a pretty easy-going guy, but Aaron didn't think he'd take too kindly to eavesdropping.

"Can you hear what they're saying?" Hal's voice sounded from over Aaron's shoulder, causing him to jump slightly.

"No. We can just wait here till Chiron's done talking to her." Aaron replied, looking over at his best friend.

Oddly, Hal looked serious, which was a rarity for Hal. Aaron was supposed to be the serious one, the grown-up one. Hal was the type that would make a joke at a funeral just to cheer everyone up. Hal always took the situation he was in, no matter how bad it was, and made the most of it. that's why he and Hal got along so well. Their personalities' balanced each other out.

And then there was Peyton.

She was completely independent and would always make the decision that she believed was right. She would never allow anyone else to tell her what to do. No matter how shy could come across as, she was full of life. Which was sort of ironic considering who her father was, but it was true. And she was loyal. One of the nicest, most loyal people Aaron had ever met. And right now, she didn't deserve the ridicule that she was getting for being a child of Hades.

"What's the big deal about being a child of Hades, anyway?" Aaron said, voicing his thoughts.

"Hades is one of the Big Three-Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades. The three brothers. Children of the Big Three are very uncommon because they are so powerful, more powerful than most demigods." Annabeth's voice echoed from next to Aaron.

He looked over at her, with her blonde hair and piercing gray eyes, Aaron figured that when Annabeth talked people listened. But her eyes were kind as she looked at him and Hal. And with Percy at her side, Aaron doubted that much could spoil the good mood she was in. Annabeth and Percy went on to tell them about the pact the Big Three made not to have any more demigod children, and how Zeus and Poseidon had broken it, but never Hades.

"It's just a bit of a shock to all of us, that's all. We just found out that Hades broke the pact after all, so everybody's gonna be a little skeptic of Peyton at first." Annabeth explained.

"It'll pass. Trust me," Percy stated soothingly. "Once everybody sees how great Peyton is, they won't care that her dad's Hades."

"Yeah, guess so." Aaron mumbled, looking at Hal, who gave a slight nod in agreement.

"You guys should head back to your cabins. The harpies' will be out soon, patrolling for any stray campers. Let's just say, you really don't want them to catch you out and about." Percy told them.

"You guys can see Peyton in the morning," Annabeth added, and then headed off with Percy towards the cabins.

Aaron stood in silence with Hal for a moment, watching Chiron and Peyton walk towards the Big House till they were nothing more than a speck.

"We should probably head back to the cabins," Aaron finally said to Hal.

"Yeah…okay. I'll, um, see you in the morning." Hal said, and Aaron noticed he wasn't the only one watching Peyton disappear in the distance.

Aaron watched as Hal turned, and headed towards the gold cabin that held the demigod children of Apollo. Hal's blonde head disappeared inside the shining cabin, and Aaron was left no choice but to return to his own. When Aaron slipped inside his cabin, he saw that the twins, Ben and August, were fast asleep in one bunk. Charlotte, Charlie as she liked to be called, was sleeping in the upper bed of the other bunk. On the lower bunk, one of his new siblings had laid out a pair of pajamas and toiletries. Too tired to really do anything, Aaron just kicked off his shoes and climbed into the bed.

Aaron didn't realized how cold he had been until he crawled under the covers. He hugged the comforter closer to him, and noticed unfamiliar symbols etched all over the fabric. Aaron had never seen the symbols before in his life, but somehow he knew they were seeping magic into the blankets, magic that radiated warmth and comfort. Before he knew it, his eyes were shut, and Aaron was drifting into sleep.

With sleep came the dreams.

Images flashed around in Aaron's head, all too quick to really get a good look at them. Aaron saw flashes of Peyton and Hal race by. He saw the skull covered in green flames and a helmet that had appeared over Peyton's head. He saw a black dog over and over, a female dog with eyes too intelligent for any one animal. Aaron saw a set of twin torches blazing through his thoughts…but then they went out, the dream went black, and Aaron shot up in bed, feeling an utter sense of dread.

Later that Saturday morning, Aaron started his first official day at Camp Half-Blood. His siblings fitted him right in with their schedule. In just the first few hours of the morning, Aaron experienced Monster 101, weapons making, rock climbing past pouring lava, and a class with just the Hecate kids: magic. By the time lunch rolled around, Aaron was sweaty, starving, and his head was spinning from all the different magical symbols and runes he'd learned about.

He had to admit that his siblings were pretty great. Charlie was extremely patient with him and caring, too. She was older that August and Ben by a year, but even without the age difference and the fact that they were related, she still felt like a big sister to all of them. Aaron was just a month or two younger than the twins, so the three of them had already hit it off. August was the more mature of the two, always having to tell the extremely ADHD Ben to focus. But the twins were close, Aaron could tell, just by the way they looked out for each other. It was nice, having actual siblings, even though Aaron considered Hal his brother.

And the day's activities almost made him forget about Peyton and Hal….almost.

During his free-time before dinner, Aaron immediately sought out his friends. He found Hal over by the lake, standing on the dock, waving down at the water with a huge grin on his face.

"What are you doin', Hal?" Aaron asked as he came up.

"Checking out the Nereids'," Hal stated simply, still smiling. "Dude, this place is full of hot girls. I'm definitely finding a girlfriend."

Aaron rolled his eyes, but couldn't suppress a smile. He wasn't the only one who felt at home here already. But there was still one person missing from their group.

"Where's Peyton? I thought she was meeting us here?" Aaron asked Hal.

"I don't know. Haven't seen her yet." Hal responded, pushing his blonde hair back from his forehead as he turned away from the lake.

Aaron was about to go look for her, when he saw her familiar dark hair heading towards the lake. When she stopped in front of them, she was out of breath. She was dressed in ripped jeans and a new orange Camp Half-Blood shirt, just like the one Hal and Aaron were wearing.

"Hey, guys," Peyton said, a small smile on her face.

She seemed happy, but Aaron had known her practically his whole life, he knew how to detect her true feelings from beneath the mask she put on. But Aaron didn't push. He also knew that if he pressed the subject, she'd just clam up even more.

"So how was your guys' first day?" Peyton asked, pulling her long hair up into a ponytail.

"Good," Aaron replied.

"Awesome!" Hal said, his eyes lighting up. He turned to Aaron. "Dude, did you see that chick Clarisse take on that huge scorpion in monster fighting?"

Aaron nodded with a smile as Hal went on to elaborate the fight. Then he and Peyton both laughed when Hal started mimicking the motions of Clarisse's spear and nearly fell off the deck.

"What about you, P? we didn't really see you, so how'd your day go?" Aaron asked, hoping maybe she would open up about the fact that her dad was the all-powerful god of the Underworld, and that she was the demigod child of Hades that had broken the Big Three pact.

"My day's been fine. Since Percy's all by himself too, he was helping me figure out how to organize my schedule and stuff. I can pretty much do whatever I want, since I'm the only one in my cabin." Peyton replied, a sad smile on her face.

Aaron could relate to what she was saying. He and Hal had siblings at camp, they had people to teach them the ropes, and Peyton was all alone, just like she'd always been. Aaron wanted to say something to comfort her, but he couldn't figure out anything to say that would make the situation all better. So he changed the subject. Peyton looked grateful for the topic change, and that made things somewhat better.

Soon enough, the horn blew for dinner. Dinner and the camp fire passed in a blur, and Aaron was back in his bed before he knew it. And even though he should've been exhausted, Peyton was there on his mind, keeping him awake with the ghost of that sad smile from the girl who had always been alone.

**So there's chapter 5!**

** Sorry once again for the late update!**

** I will hopefully be getting into the more exciting stuff here pretty soon, so stay tuned!**

** Thanks for all the support!**

** Please review and tell me your thoughts. Anything you love? Hate? I want to hear any thoughts, anything that will make it better =)**

** Thanks for reading!**

** -DaughterOfPoseidon333**


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